Chapter 5
“Rest, then. Do you need a doctor?”
To James’s businesslike question, I deliberately replied coldly. It was also Amelia’s usual tone.
“No, I want to rest alone, so tell everyone not to come.”
“Yes, then.”
I thought I had narrowly avoided a crisis, but it was my mistake. Later, the Crown Prince sent a letter wishing for a speedy recovery along with a flower basket. Every single day.
***
The Crown Prince’s Palace.
Sunlight poured through the window, glinting off golden hair. Vincent, who had been gazing outside indifferently, asked in a low voice.
“Did you send it?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Oscar Cobran, the Crown Prince’s aide standing behind him, answered respectfully.
Vincent turned to look at him.
“I told you to choose something flashy and expensive.”
“I instructed them accordingly.”
Oscar glanced at Vincent’s face.
Crown Prince Vincent had fainted from a horse-riding accident and only woke up the day before yesterday. For someone who had been unconscious for a week, he seemed remarkably fine.
However, his demeanor had changed.
The emerald eyes, once brimming with confidence to the point of arrogance, were now far calmer.
But there was something else puzzling.
“Your Highness, but why… are you doing this? Why the sudden flowers?”
“Is it strange for me to send flowers to my fiancée?”
The suspiciously calm counter-question was highly unusual.
“That’s not it, but… just the day before yesterday, you were looking for the Lady as soon as you woke up, and now it seems like you’re even trying to bring her into the palace.”
“It’s been a perfectly natural custom since ancient times to bring in a fiancée before marriage to familiarize her with imperial etiquette.”
It wasn’t natural at all.
And for good reason—Crown Prince Vincent had clearly disliked Amelia intensely. If you got down to it, his fall from the horse was because he was avoiding her.
He had hastily scheduled a ride, taking a different horse than usual, and fell.
“Send them once a day, every day, until we hear she’s recovered.”
Even now, ordering flowers to be sent, there was no trace of concern or affection for Amelia.
So why, for what reason?
Unable to hold back, Oscar asked again.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, is there a reason to lavish such attention on Lady Wentworth? Given what Duke Wentworth has been up to lately—”
“Oscar.”
“That snake of a man might be scheming something with his daughter.”
“Viscount Oscar Cobran.”
Despite Vincent’s warning tone, Oscar couldn’t stop himself. He had to say this.
“Your Highness! The Lady may be innocent, but the Duke is absolutely…!”
At that, one corner of Vincent’s mouth curled into a wry smirk.
“Innocent, you say? That woman?”
It was a look entirely unlike Vincent. For a moment, a deep murderous intent flickered in his emerald eyes.
“Y-Your Highness?”
As Oscar called out in alarm, Crown Prince Vincent abruptly changed the subject.
“What about the magic traps I ordered to be set up?”
“Oh, yes. We’ve installed traps around the Crown Prince’s Palace more densely than before. But why all of a sudden?”
“Because the Lady came with a little fly attached.”
Vincent pulled a small fly-shaped object from his pocket and showed it. Examining it, Oscar said,
“It’s a listening device. An unregistered one. To think she’d bring something like this—Your Highness, as expected, the Wentworth Lady can’t be trusted.”
Vincent, gazing out the window, rubbed his chin.
“Well, it seems the Lady didn’t know about it.”
“You shouldn’t be so sure. The Wentworth family has always been close to the Magic Tower. Growing up in that house, she’d be familiar with magical devices.”
“Yes, that could be true…”
Vincent agreed verbally, but his voice trailed off, as if something bothered him.
“You may leave.”
The capable aide Oscar keenly sensed the Crown Prince’s growing unease.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
He withdrew gracefully without further objection, though he couldn’t help but remain suspicious.
‘Something’s definitely different about him.’
Walking down the corridor, Oscar suddenly stopped, turning back with an anxious expression.
“Could it be… did he hit his head when he fell that day?”
After Oscar left, Vincent, now alone, leaned against the window, staring at his open hand with a complicated gaze.
It still felt unbelievable. Even as he awkwardly flexed and extended his hand, he couldn’t shake the fear that this might be a dream.
‘To have come back.’
Vincent’s deep green eyes wavered, and in an instant, he clenched his fist tightly. The moment of his death still felt as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
***
Before his regression, he didn’t personally dislike Amelia. But seeing her always brought her father, Duke Wentworth, to mind.
Duke Wentworth stood at the pinnacle of the noble faction.
He interfered in imperial affairs, trying to control them, and was dangerously close to the Magic Tower, which the imperial family regarded with suspicion.
Because of that, Vincent couldn’t be kind to his daughter, Amelia. And the frequent rumors about her gave him enough justification to keep his distance.
Amidst this, Amelia’s growing demands for his affection became increasingly burdensome.
A year after their engagement, Duke Wentworth, mercifully, brought up breaking it off.
‘I should’ve suspected it then. Why he requested to end the engagement.’
Duke Wentworth requesting to break the engagement meant he had given up on winning Vincent over.
In other words, he had deemed Vincent an obstacle or something to be discarded.
But that day, as always, Amelia was sitting in the Crown Prince’s Palace office, waiting for him.
Her eyes, pleading for his love, made him uncomfortable as always.
If Amelia married him as things stood, she’d only become a political sacrifice. Thinking it better for her to move on quickly, he spoke more coldly than usual.
“Lady, haven’t you heard? Your father requested to end our engagement.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still here? You’re no longer my fiancée. That means you’re not someone who can come into this palace freely.”
“Your Highness…”
Amelia hesitated, looking up at Vincent. Her eyes were wet with tears.
“Just one last time… would you have tea with me?”
The word “last” and her tearful expression softened his heart. He shouldn’t have let it.
“…Fine.”
Vincent sat across from her. And for the first time, he closely observed her as she personally poured the tea.
‘She’s a beautiful woman. Are her eyelashes that long? Her eyes are a deeper red than I thought. Oh, those hands couldn’t catch a fly.’
Thinking such pointless thoughts.
He picked up the teacup. The tea’s fragrance was sweet.
Perhaps because of that, his heart softened, and Vincent said something he normally wouldn’t. Even then, he thought the problem was her father.
“Amelia, things turned out this way, but I hope you live happily.”
“Your Highness, this is the first time you’ve called me by my name.”
His hand, holding the tea, paused. Had he?
“I suppose so. Anyway, stay healthy. You’ll meet someone good.”
“……”
Amelia didn’t respond, just stared at Vincent’s face. It was a familiar reaction, so he didn’t think much of it.
After finishing the tea, Vincent looked up at Amelia.
He felt a slight pang of regret, but it was fleeting. If this hadn’t been that kind of relationship, maybe things could’ve been different.
“Let’s get up.”
Before more stray thoughts could arise, Vincent moved to end the moment. He had plenty of other things to do.
Today was the day of an audit regarding the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower, long treated as if it were above the law, was something the Crown Prince intended to bring under imperial control this time.
Amelia remained seated.
“Lady.”
When he called her, Amelia slowly raised her head. Her red eyes seemed to shimmer unusually.
“Your Highness.”
Suddenly, her face appeared to multiply, and dizziness washed over him.
Translator: Hello, I’m Nem, a new translator. If there are
any mistakes, please overlook them while pointing them out, but be kind when doing so (≧▽≦)
It’s my first time working in English, so please comment so I know there’s an audience and can provide you with more.
Thank you very much